


Spirits Night

by silveradept



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Trick or Treat: Treat, Trick or Treat: Trick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 02:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12378858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: On a night when the boundaries between the worlds are thin, the Fire Lord and his daughter meditate and have an adventure.





	1. Spirit Night Meditation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [riverbanks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverbanks/gifts).



"Father?"

"Fire Lord Zuko, Izumi. At least wherever someone can hear us."

"Why are we going here?"

"Because this is where we go when we want to talk with our family. And tonight, the barrier between our world and the Spirit Realm is thin. Some of them may even talk back."

"Do we want them to?" 

"Some of them," Zuko said, absently rubbing his head (on the non-scarred side) with his hand.

The Fire Nation, as a whole, kept their shrines simple. Scrolls of names and incense sticks were seen as the least a family could do to keep the memory of their ancestors alive, even if they were no longer bodily present. The Fire Lord's shrine contained both the names of those who had preceded Zuko in the office and the members of his family, each on opposite sides of the shrine building.

Zuko gently bent fire into the incense at the place where the last Fire Lord's name and statue presided. Zuko then crossed the room to the family shrine, where Izumi waited.

Focusing her own chi, Izumi bent a small gout of flame in the direction of the incense stick, managing to light the tip. Zuko smiled. Izumi beamed. 

Zuko put the incense into the holder and motioned for Izumi to sit next to him.

"If our meditation is pure," he said, "we will be able to see into the Spirit World and be comforted by those who have gone before."

Izumi looked at Zuko with confusion. "Does everyone go to the Spirit World when they leave?"

"No, not everyone. The Avatar might, and some people who are very spiritually advanced do, but most of us go on to our next life."

Izumi sat next to Zuko, matching his posture, and stared at the candle.

"I wonder who I'll see tonight," she whispered to herself, before starting to breathe the way Zuko did, long breaths in and out, staring at the candle.


	2. Izumi's Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izumi meets a familiar figure.

"Hello, grand-niece," a rough and jolly voice boomed behind Izumi. Turning around on the cushion, she saw an older man, with a large belly, dressed in an older style of Fire Nation robes.

"Who are you?" she said. Her father had warned her that not everything that was in the Spirit Realm was friendly. This man looked familiar to her, though.

"Zuko is my nephew," he replied evenly. "Although I started my vacation in the Spirit World not very long after you came into the physical world, grand-niece. I saw him name you, Izumi, and I played with you and gave you your first sip of tea. Which you then spat back into my face, proving you were Zuko's child after all."

"Anyone could say anything about that time," Izumi said, "and I wouldn't know about it. How do I know you're a good spirit?"

"I see my nephew's paranoia has come through into the next generation," the spirit grumbled. "He still dreams of his sister and his father. I hear him, sometimes, when his nightmares are particularly strong. Azula and Ozai taught him many things that will make him a great Fire Lord, but the cost of those lessons was very steep."

The spirit stopped at the shrine to the previous Fire Lords. He pointed at the blank space above where Zuko's name was engraved. "The young man I knew was so obsessed with honor and piety that he would never have left his father's name off for so long. It seems that age has granted him a measure of wisdom."

Chuckling, the spirit turned to Izumi and walked toward her. Izumi saw the opportunity he presented and acted. Inhaling as deep a breath as she could, Izumi breathed the sacred fire of the dragons all over the spirit until she gasped for breath. 

The spirit was unharmed. Worse, he looked _delighted_ at her action. 

"My nephew has taught you well!" he said, clapping. "Dragon fire breath at your age is very impressive! And a very useful tool for checking if strange spirits are harmful!"

From somewhere outside the shrine, a kettle began to whistle, its voice carried on the wind.

"Ah," the spirit said, rubbing his hands together, "the water is ready. Will you join me for tea?"

Izumi shrugged. Whomever this spirit was, he was much more powerful than she was at this point. There wouldn't be much point in refusing.

"I think you will find that I have brewed your very favorite," the spirit said. "Tea and Pai Sho will be a good way to pass the time."

"Until what?" Izumi asked.

"Until your father joins us," the spirit replied.


	3. Zuko's Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko also meets someone familiar.

She never leaves his dreams. He had finally managed to get his father out, but then Azula stepped in to fill the void.

"Hello, brother," she purred. Azula always sounded like a large cat ready to spring upon whatever she had decided was her prey. Zuko had been prey enough times to know that time of voice, and what followed, would not be good for him.

"You're one of my nightmares," he said. "Some part of me that this meditation has drawn up so that I can work it out and come to a greater--"

"Oh, _spare me_ , Zuko. You know as well as I do that the living can travel to the Spirit Realm. Of course you're going to find me here tonight. Even though I'm cold, penniless, and sitting where you should be, our father will be here tonight."

"He's not coming, Azula."

"Do you think he lacked the will to go there? Oh, no, brother. Vaatu happily guided him along the way. And on this night, Fire Lord Ozai walks again." Azula smiled.

In the distance, something bellowed. Zuko shivered. He'd heard that scream before, when Ozai had his bending sealed. When Zuko had helped. 

"Won't be be pleased to see you again," Azula smirked. "And this time he won't even have to bother with an Agnei Kai to hurt you." Azula's smirk shifted to a feral grin. "Maybe I should soften you up for him. That scar of yours makes your face uneven."

Lightning crackled in Azula's hands a moment before she sent several bolts aiming for Zuko's heart. Zuko's training took over before his mind could react, bending the lightning away from his heart and flinging it back at Azula, who laughed as she caught it effortlessly.

"A little lightning isn't going to hurt me," she said, charging the ball in her hands to make it bigger. "You, on the other hand..."

A tiny scream interrupted Azula as a blast of fire erupted around Zuko and dispelled the lightning ball. When the smoke cleared, Izumi stood in front of Zuko, fists clenched.

"Oh?" Azula laughed. "Now you need children to save you, Zuko?"

"I'm Fire Lord Izumi," Izumi shouted, "and I'm going to be the best firebender and greatest Fire Lord there ever was! Just you wait!"

"That's cute," Azula said, and started to charge the lightning again, only to be surrounded by a column of flame that made it impossible for her to see.

"Nobody hurts my father!" Izumi roared.

"Izumi," Zuko said, very confused at his daughter's appearance and apparent firebending skill, "where did you come from?"

"There's a bright blue glowing door right behind you," Izumi said matter-of-factly. Zuko stole a glance behind him and confirmed that there was a door there. Which was not there before.

"Izumi," Zuko said carefully, "can you walk backward with me and keep that fire pillar going?"

"Sure thing, F--ire Lord Zuko," she replied, smiling.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the air, missing them by inches. Izumi screamed in fright, and the fire pillar dissipated.

"Your father had already been hurt," Azula snarled, wisps of smoke coming from her hair, "and now I'm going to hurt you, too!"

Azula launched herself at Izumi, power crackling in her fists. Before she could connect, Zuko stepped in front of his daughter, a look of concentration on his face, and struck Azula in the chest with the flat of his palm. The force of the blow and the focused chi behind it sent Azula flying backward through the roof and into the night sky.

"Nobody...hurts my daughter," he said, breathing heavily. Izumi nodded, her fierce mask recovered in the absence of danger.

"Are you two finished? Your tea is getting cold," came a voice from the doorway behind them.

"Uncle," Zuko said, turning to face the old man, "what have you been telling my daughter?"

"Stories..." he replied, trying (and failing) to look innocent. "Many of which I told to you when you were her age."

"Like, perhaps, the story of how Avatar Roku faced down demons as a young child and went on to become a great Fire Lord and bender?"

"I wouldn't dare usurp the Fire Lord's privilege to instruct his daughter in such things," Uncle said, stifling a laugh. "I am just a tea shop owner, after all."

"Come _on_ , Father," Izumi said, tugging on Zuko's sleeve. "Jasmine's no good when it's gone cold!"

Zuko sighed.

"Uncle," he said, stepping through the spirit doorway, "if Izumi turns out to have your taste in tea, I will conveniently forget to light incense for you the next time there are weak boundaries."

"I assure you, nephew, she is definitely _your_ child," he replied, as Zuko closed the door behind them.


End file.
